India hockey can only make progress when the two governing bodies Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India come together to run the sport, said sports minister Ajay Maken.
Both the bodies (IHF and HI) should come together and run the sport. We tried to get both the bodies together but unfortunately even after the bodies signed the treaty, it didn’t get recognition from Indian Olympic Association and International Hockey Federation,” Maken was quoted saying in The DNA.
The union sports minister said that the two bodies should unite if hockey has to grow in the country, “I still believe until and unless these body keep their differences aside, hockey will not grow in the country. On one hand we have sports like shooting, boxing, wrestling, badminton, which are bringing Olympic medals and on the other hand we have a sport which is seeing infighting among the two bodies. Naturally, our focus will go towards other sports when it comes to government’s help.”
Meanwhile, a report in the Pune Mirror said that union sports minister Ajay admitted to the worldclass facilities that Balewadi Sports Complex offers and asserted that the city should be able to produce 10 medal winners at Olympics 2020.
"Olympic winners like Mary Kom, Vijay Kumar and Gagan Narang preferred to practice in Pune over other Indian cities. Kom decided to practice here and not Patiala while Indian shooting coach Stanislav Lapidus personally told me that he wanted to train Indian shooters in Pune over Delhi. Even the Indian Hockey Team had decided to move their training base from Bangalore to this city which shows that sportsmen and coaches like it here. Pune has a pleasant weather throughout the year and the facilities at Balewadi are of high standards. I will consider this sports complex as a failure if it is not able to produce at least 10 medal winners at 2020 Olympics,” said Maken.
